


hallway naps and nightmare cliches and not knowing what to do with a sick person

by Leafspeaks



Category: LUCY (Korea Band)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Sick Character, Sickfic, Vomiting, hey wait is it just me or is yechan essentially just wei wuxian in this someone confirm please, literally just mentions of wonsang and sangyeob tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:35:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28849170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leafspeaks/pseuds/Leafspeaks
Summary: yechan gets sick and gwangil's the only one around to take care of him.  the expected chaos (and then some) ensues.cw: graphic depictions of vomit
Comments: 9
Kudos: 14





	hallway naps and nightmare cliches and not knowing what to do with a sick person

**Author's Note:**

> this was [from a request i got on tumblr](https://pips-fics.tumblr.com)! feel free to [send me more asks](https://pips-fics.tumblr.com/ask) if there's something you'd like to see written! :)

as he slumped heavily onto the couch, yechan assumed the tiredness that had overcome him so suddenly was just a consequence of how much energy he’d spent during the day. he’d surprised himself by waking up early, around 7, and had been going non-stop since, full of even more energy than normal - so by the time 7 at night rolled around, he figured it made sense for him to be feeling a bit worn down.

that’s the thing, though - it wasn’t just a bit. it was complete, overwhelming exhaustion, so much so that he felt vaguely nauseous. 

after just a few minutes of watching some mindless show on tv, he forced himself back to his feet in search of headache medicine. normally, yechan wasn’t a forgetful person, but somewhere along the way to his destination, he found himself confused and wondering what he’d been doing. the exhaustion weighed more heavily on him than ever, but his head felt too light. for a moment, he couldn’t tell if he was going to pass out or throw up. his legs gave out and he sunk to the ground with black spots intruding on his vision.

he blinked quickly, straightening his back against the wall behind him, and took three slow, cautious, deep breaths. moderately alarmed, he pulled out his phone to text the other members, just to check if any of them were home. before he got the chance, a sharp pain shot through his head and he gasped, curling in on himself and squeezing his eyes shut. the pain left him winded and feeling quite sick again. yechan figured he’d give his eyes a short rest, and then try texting again in a few minutes.

probably he should’ve known better, all things considered, but who could blame him when the only thing his brain cared about was getting some sleep?

* * *

when gwangil returned home at around 8:30, he initially thought that the apartment was empty. he knew sangyeop and wonsang were out, as they’d stayed at the studio to continue recording after gwangil had left, and he assumed that it was too quiet for yechan to be around. the oldest member of lucy had an unmatched aptitude for making noise, even - and sometimes especially - when left alone. he was constantly whistling his favorite songs, humming melodies he’d made up on the spot, or fidgeting in some or another loud way. even while sleeping, yechan was loud - and that’s what ended up giving him away.

gwangil didn’t hear the snoring until he’d walked through the kitchen and further into the apartment, and even then he doubted his ears. he checked the couch and upon finding it empty, hurriedly made his way toward the bedroom.

“what the–“ gwangil narrowly managed to avoid tripping over the violinist. he was sitting in the hallway, chin to his chest like a child, very much asleep. gwangil clicked his tongue upon seeing yechan’s phone in his hand. he shook the older man’s shoulder gently.

“hyung, you shouldn’t fall asleep playing phone games.”

as yechan blearily blinked awake, gwangil wanted to take his words back. it was immediately clear that yechan was sick. his eyes were glassy, and as he slowly lifted his head, his cheeks were bright red. gwangil quickly confirmed his suspicions by placing the back of his hand on yechan’s sweaty forehead.

“gwangil?” yechan grabbed onto gwangil’s arm, but his grip was weak.

“you can’t sleep here, hyung, especially not when you’ve got a fever like that.”

yechan seemed to take that as a challenge, responding with an adamant tone and a pout. “i can sleep here - i _was_ sleeping here, but _you_ woke me up!”

gwangil couldn’t quite resist the urge to roll his eyes. “you _shouldn’t_ sleep here - you’re going to be all achy when you get up.”

yechan glared. “i already _am_ achy!”

“great, hyung, good for you,” gwangil said dryly as he helped the older man to his feet. “how about you eat something and we can get some fever reducers in you?”

complaints aside, yechan was fairly compliant as he allowed gwangil guide him to one of the kitchen stools. “i was going to get headache meds before,” yechan said, his mouth barely forming the words clearly enough to make them out.

“oh yeah? why didn’t you?”

“forgot.”

just another indication of how bad the older man must’ve been feeling. from the way he held his head so gingerly in his hands, it was safe to assume the headache hadn’t magically gone away during yechan’s nap. ultimately, gwangil didn’t need to assume.

“it huuuuuurts,” yechan whined, slumping further in his seat as gwangil offered him some soup. yechan’s frown deepened. “it smells bland.”

“what, did you expect me to give you some sort of spicy soup when you’re sick?”

“i- it’s just so _boring_ ,” yechan went on.

gwangil pointedly released an audible and long-suffering sigh. “well, if you’ll just eat half of it or so, you can have something to help your headache.”

at that, yechan brought the spoon to his lips, still sulking. “everything hurts and my nose is so stuffed up i can’t breathe,” he grumbled in between spoonfuls of soup. as he brought some more to his lips, gwangil could see that he was shaking. “i just wanna sleep.”

“so you _don’t_ want your head to stop hurting?”

yechan shoved more soup in his mouth angrily, quickly consuming the rest of the bowl before dropping the spoon back in with a clink and a goofy fake gag. “of course i do. otherwise i wouldn’t have bothered eating that. blech. give me the meds.”

“you’re welcome,” gwangil said dryly, handing the medication over and taking yechan’s dishes to the sink. “go to bed already.”

“you mean ‘go to couch?’” the bitterness in yechan’s voice was so lacking in subtlety that gwangil almost laughed.

“oh, stop being such a baby. of course you can sleep in the bedroom, you’re sick! no one else is trying to sleep there right now, anyway, and it doesn’t bother me, so your snoring won’t be an issue.”

yechan’s mouth dropped open. “really?” the total awe in his voice made gwangil do a double take, and he couldn’t help the surprised snort that slipped out of him as he realized yechan had really assumed he wouldn’t be allowed to sleep in the bedroom.

“yes!” yechan still looked like he thought he might be getting pranked, so gwangil joked, “the other two might be that cruel, but they’re not here right now, so let’s break the rules while they’re out!”

that seemed to do the trick. yechan looked about as excited as gwangil had ever seen him as they headed to the bedroom.

by the time yechan was all settled in, it was late enough for gwangil to get in his own bed, but not quite late enough for him to sleep. he texted sangyeop and wonsang to update them on yechan’s fever, and to warn them to perhaps stay at the studio and finish recording if they didn’t want to risk catching the bug. gwangil continued messing around on his phone until he drifted off.

* * *

it was all very cliche. yechan’s nightmare. this was typical.

his nightmares tended to take the shape of people leaving him, walking away, one by one. it would start out as an attack on his need for attention, just random strangers walking past him without sparing a second glance - and he could handle that. for a while he couldn’t, and he would wake up in a cold sweat, but after countless repetitions, he got past it.

unfortunately, getting past it meant entering phase two of the dream, which targeted his more vulnerable fears. 1. fear of being left alone, 2. fear of being helpless to stop it. this, too, he had overcome - or so he’d thought. for a while, he’d been able to remind himself it wasn’t real, and to just give up. but, as he stopped chasing his loved ones as they walked away from him, a new fear began to grow - a fear that he wouldn’t even put in the effort to stop them, that the helplessness he learned through nightmares might someday carry through to reality. that fear was something he didn’t think he’d ever be able to combat.

still, this was all typical. it was decidedly less typical for him to wake up sobbing, let alone to wake up one of his members with said sobbing even before yechan himself was fully awake. but then, there was a first time for everything.

so when gwangil’s voice broke through the watery haze of yechan’s crying, he couldn’t help himself from grabbing at the drummer’s hands, couldn’t stop sniffling right away. it was the first time. he’d do better next time. he’d learn to handle it on his own, like he always did. but for now, gwangil’s hands were kind of helping him breathe.

* * *

“hyung!” gwangil thought he was probably too emotionally clumsy to be dealing with this, actually. it was pretty unusual to see yechan upset, but when he was, it was always sangyeop who worked his magic and got their oldest member back to his typical cheerful self. but sangyeop wasn’t here, and yechan wasn’t just upset, he was _sobbing_. so gwangil would do his best, and he figured waking yechan was the first step of that.

apparently letting yechan grab him with sweaty hands was the second. he let the almost instinctual teasing comment die in the back of his throat and tried to ignore the urge to shudder.

“are you…” okay? that didn’t seem like a question that needed to be asked. should he ask what was wrong, or was that prying? did yechan have nightmares a lot, or was this because of the fever? gwangil definitely wasn’t going to ask that. not now. he shook his head and stroked yechan’s hand until his grip eased up, then moved to support the older man’s back as he gasped for air. “here, hyung, sit up. you’ll be able to breathe better. i’ll get you some water.”

for an instant, yechan looked like he was going to protest, his grip on gwangil’s left hand tightening. then he ducked his head away, towards the shoulder that was further from gwangil, and nodded. his grip loosened, too, but not completely, his hand dropping back to the bed only when gwangil pulled away.

by the time gwangil got back, the tears had stopped. something about that felt very wrong. maybe it was the contrast between the shy smile on his face and the puffy redness of his eyes. 

yeah, that was probably it.

handing over the water, gwangil put his hand to yechan’s head - he definitely still had a fever, and it had gotten worse. a second too late, gwangil realized he shouldn’t have let go of the cup of water, remembering how shaky yechan was. sure enough, yechan’s whole pajama shirt got drenched.

yechan laughed. “well, i needed a shower, anyway, with how much i’ve been sweating.” gwangil frowned at him and yechan’s eyes darted down, away. “hah, sorry, that’s gross.”

gwangil’s frown deepened. “it’s fine.” he quickly grabbed another shirt and pulled it over yechan’s head as soon as he’d dried himself off. “how are you feeling?”

yechan shrugged, still avoiding eye contact.

“hyung, please talk to me. i’m trying to help.”

“i’m fine.” gwangil didn’t think he’d ever heard anyone sound less fine. but it wasn’t just that yechan sounded miserable - he did, he sounded small and ill - more than that, he sounded far away, and closed off, and maybe… scared. his posture backed it all up, curled away from gwangil, hunched over.

“nuh uh,” gwangil said, before he’d really had a chance to figure out the words he was going to say. he was definitely not equipped to handle this. yechan’s eyes snapped to gwangil and he sighed. “i’m just worried about you, hyung. if you can go back to sleep, you should. i’ll get you more water and anything else you need before you do.”

much to gwangil’s surprise, yechan’s mouth opened, and then closed just as quickly. yechan’s adam’s apple bobbed up and down rapidly, and gwangil wondered if he would cry again.

“hyung?”

yechan’s lips curved downwards, as if the words themselves were bitter, but he finally spoke up, a whisper. “my stomach feels sick.”

for a second, gwangil was frozen - then he snapped into motion, helping yechan out of bed and to the bathroom. he wasn’t surprised when yechan shooed him away - gwangil didn’t mind obeying. that didn’t mean he was going far.

he sat outside the bathroom door and checked his messages. wonsang still hadn’t read what he’d sent earlier, so he suspected that recording wasn’t going particularly well even before he read sangyeop’s message:

> _oh no! is he really sick? are you okay? wonsang is holding me prisoner until i can hit the high notes but if you need me i can pull the hyung card on him_

gwangil was grinning at this when he heard a retch. he flinched and resisted the urge to pull out his earbuds, trying to refocus on his phone rather than the painful noises coming from behind him.

> _no need, hyung! we’ll be okay. wonsang-hyung’s right, you should finish recording before you risk catching a bug, anyway. good luck!_

* * *

yechan’s head was spinning as he leaned over the toilet bowl. he didn’t know why gwangil had insisted on getting him a new shirt when it’d taken him all of about 10 minutes to sweat through it. he yanked it off, quick to return to his safe position above the toilet.

this was the part he hated. the waiting.

Five minutes later and his legs were shaking from supporting his odd posture, but yechan refused to move. the nausea was almost overwhelming. this was taking too long. he squeezed his eyes shut, and forced himself to gag. he hadn’t fully committed, initially, but suddenly he didn’t have a choice as a harsh retch tore at his throat. he blinked, surprised by the force of it, and then heaved again.

his stomach ached horribly. he massaged it, but the clamminess of his hands just reminded yechan how disgusting he felt and probably looked. he’d have to apologize to gwangil after all of this. 

a shudder ran through him and yechan leaned forward into another long retch, managing to expel a small stream of liquid this time. he coughed and found his airways suddenly blocked by what was previously his stomach contents.

ah, he hated this part, too. the pain and weakness and lack of control. yechan couldn’t stop himself from breathing loudly as he draped himself over the toilet, desperate for air. the taste and the smell made him gag again almost immediately. he kept his mouth shut and swallowed back sick, only for it to come right back up.

yechan was worn out. it hit him suddenly, that he’d really fucked up. as a rule, he didn’t cry. more realistically, more accurately, he didn’t cry in front of people. not when he was sad, and definitely not when he was scared. sangyeop had been around while he cried exactly once but even then, yechan had done an alright job of hiding it and moving on.

thinking about it was not helping his stomach situation. he barely made it over the toilet in time for a thin stream of vomit to splash into the water below. he flushed it down, and didn’t bother wiping his mouth, instead choosing to lay flat on his back, bare skin flush with the cold floor, arms and legs splayed like a starfish. his stomach felt empty, but his bones still felt sick, and his head was still spinning a bit.

maybe if he stayed quiet, he wouldn’t have to deal with gwangil.

it wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate gwangil’s help - in fact, he was extremely grateful for his help earlier to avoid making a mess. it was just that yechan wasn’t up for explaining anything right now, or ever, and sooner or later, gwangil would have questions. if yechan stayed locked in a bathroom alone for the rest of his life, he wouldn’t have to answer them.

yechan felt like a coward. but then, more than that, he felt exhaustion, so he let it overtake him and hoped he’d be a bit braver once he woke up.

* * *

gwangil picked the lock to the bathroom after he’d heard nothing from yechan in 30 minutes, and was not surprised to find the older man solidly asleep on the hard floor. “yechan-hyung,” he said, softly jostling yechan’s shoulder. “let’s get you back in bed.”

“don’ wanna,” yechan whined, eyes still shut.

“not up for debate, come on. i can carry you?”

yechan immediately held out his arms, and gwangil smiled slightly. he was just glad yechan was letting him help.

**Author's Note:**

> i know that leaving comments can be stressful and difficult for a million different reasons, so here are some short, copy-and-paste comments which are 110% acceptable to use if you'd like to provide me with some encouragement, but don't have the time or energy to come up with your own:
> 
> 1) "Just read this for a second time!”  
> 2) “I loved this!”  
> 2) “<3″  
> 4) “This was great!”  
> 5) “One of my favorites!”  
> 6) “Extra kudos!”  
> 7) Reply to another comment with “all of this!″ or “+1″  
> 8) “Will definitely recommend this!”  
> 9) “This was my favorite part: [paste quote]”  
> 10) “Thanks for writing this!”
> 
> still don't want to leave a comment? no worries! i hope you enjoyed the story nonetheless!
> 
> if you'd like to see me write something else, feel free to send requests! you can also send me mail [through my tumblr account](https://pips-fics.tumblr.com/ask) :)


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